Passion Ignited (31 page)

“Odin is sending some of his finest after you
to take you back to Valhalla,” Caleen answered.

“Why?
He
banned me.”

Savannah uncrossed and re-crossed her legs.
“He recently realized that you birthed children—males—and he’s
demanding your return.”

“Why would he send you ahead to warn me?”
Raine asked.

“Oh,
he
didn’t send us,” Caleen
replied. “Freyja did.”

“Freyja?” Raine scoffed. That was unheard of.
While the Valkyrie swore their loyalty to both Odin and Freyja,
Odin never allowed them to leave his realm. “You’re in service of
our goddess?”

“Yes,” Raven smiled. “The four of us escaped
Odin’s tirade years ago and have been in direct service to Freyja
ever since.”

Raine sat down on the couch opposite her
sisters. “And what does Odin think of this?”

“I’m not sure he knows,” Savannah shrugged.
“He might, he might not.”

She leaned forward, her elbows on her knees.
Her heart pounded unexpectedly. She’d never known that there were
other Valkyries who had made it out of Valhalla. Her falling in
love with a vampire had put a stop to Odin letting any of his
daughters out of his personal realm. “When will they be
here?”

“A few days. Tops. They’ll have to find you
the same way we did. So I suggest you refrain from having lightning
fits,” Odette said.

Raine breathed a sigh of relief. The immediate
threat wasn’t hitting tonight. So much had been going on lately
that no one was getting any rest. Draven and Ally, Raider and
Nitro, Riley’s coma, Thrash’s banning, Garrick’s disappearance, and
Ferox currently playing the part of the Grouch. He just wasn’t the
same man anymore.

She sat back in her couch, letting her back
hit the soft cushion. “Okay, well…let’s deal with that as it comes.
Where are you staying?”

Chapter
Thirty-One

“Trust me,” Raider said.

He’d been trying to convince Nitro to leave
his room for about a half an hour, but she wasn’t sure that she
could restrain herself from going
Silence of the Lambs
on
his brothers. She had distracted him a few times by licking her
lips sensually, or rubbing him suggestively, but he’d resisted
falling into her wiles.

“Come on,” he insisted again. “You’ll never
know what you can handle if you don’t try.”

She narrowed her eyes on him, her arms folded
across her chest. “I’m not about to test this out on the people you
love—or on my brother, for that matter. I think we should just stay
in here and play.”

Raider couldn’t help the smile that spread
across his face. No matter that it was just a distraction method.
The thought of playing with her sent some serious twinges through
his body. “Can you feel what I feel about you?”

She looked at him curiously. “What do you
mean?”

“Can you feel my love?”

She looked away, but nodded.

“Do you feel hungry now?”

“No.”

He stepped toward her and took her hand in
his. “Then let’s go.”

She sighed, but finally allowed him to pull
her from his bed. This was a huge step. He knew he couldn’t force
her to do anything. Her strength rivaled his own. If she didn’t
want to allow him to do anything, then he wouldn’t be able to make
her.

He led her to the door and mentally unlocked
the bolt. They slipped out into the hallway and made their way
toward the foyer. So far they hadn’t run into any Guardians, but
that would change soon.

“How are you doing?” he asked, making eye
contact with her again.

“Fine. I can sense them, though.”

“Sensing them isn’t a problem. Are you
hungry?”

“No.”

He nodded again and continued leading her
forward. They reached the foyer and, as they neared the library, he
soon realized that it wasn’t a group of males talking. It was a
bunch of females. He turned the corner, with Nitro in tow, and saw
four ladies sitting around, talking to Raine. He glanced at Raine
first, giving her a quick nod before he allowed his gaze to pass to
each of the others. He stopped once his eyes landed on a female
he’d never planned to see again. He hadn’t seen the Valkyrie in
centuries, but that didn’t mean that the memories weren’t still
there. He’d spent days sating himself on her during the
championship games.

As quickly as he spotted her, recognition
crossed her features as well. She stood with her eyebrows arched.
“Well, Raider. It’s nice to see you again.”

****

Nitro stood by Raider’s side fully aware of
the pulse that was beating rapidly in the room. A new female—a
brunette—was excited to see Raider; the sight of him had sent her
heart fluttering. Nitro focused on that pulse, letting it draw her
in. No one could miss the sexual tension that had spread throughout
the room. Something had happened between the female and her
vampire.

“Caleen,” Raider finally greeted. He’d sounded
startled, more so than the female had been.

“It’s been a while,” the woman said. “Did you
keep your promise?”

He seemed startled yet again. His eyes flicked
to Nitro for just a second before he focused on the brunette
again.

“You said you’d never forget me. Did you
forget?” she asked, her voice a throaty purr.

Nitro’s vision started to cloud over.
Everything turned red. She didn’t even try to refrain from hissing
as she stepped in front of her male. The bitch’s blood was
hers—that was all there was to it.

Raider’s hand gripped her arm, but she stepped
forward anyway, his grip releasing her. He was up against her
again, whispering something to her, but she was too far-gone. The
brunette bitch showed up on
her
turf looking for
her
man?

She growled, her fangs extending in her mouth.
The female moved quickly, weapons appearing in her hands almost
faster than Nitro could track.

“What is she?” the brunette asked the
others.

“Nitro, stop,” Raine said. Her voice was
muffled. Then again, everything was muffled when she lost
control.

She could feel Raider’s body against her own,
his hand trailing through her hair, trying to calm her. She felt a
gentle push on mind and allowed him in.

“She’s nothing
.
A fling, from a long
time ago
.”

“Have you tasted her
?”

He went silent, obviously not wanting to reply
to her question. That was answer enough. She growled loudly, anger
coursing through her.

“I did
,” he finally replied. “
But it
was centuries ago. She never meant anything to me, I
swear
.”

The female was tensed to fight, as were the
others. They stood by her side, ready to take Nitro on when the
time came. Raine stood between them, holding her hands out: one
toward Nitro, the other at the females.

“Nitro, listen to me
,” Raider said in
her mind again. “
I need you to concentrate on how I
feel.
”

She had to force herself to break the
stare-down she and the brunette were having. She focused on Raider
and let her mind go blank.

There. The connection. She could feel through
their blood-bond exactly what Raider was feeling. He was in love,
but not with the Raine-wannabe. He was in love with Nitro. An
overwhelming sensation traveled through her. Warmth.
Love.

Partnership.

She couldn’t deny it to herself any more than
she could deny Raider. The look he gave her told her that he felt
her feelings in return. Maybe it was from that gentle tickle in her
mind…

“Hey,” she said. “That’s cheating.”

He shrugged and pulled her to him, a smile
curving his face. Just as he set her back on her feet, Blaze and
Ethan ran into the library.

“We’ve got problems.” Ethan grabbed the remote
and flipped on the TV.

“Carrie Cavanaugh here with Channel Nine
News. We’ve got breaking news coming from downtown Newark. The
Children’s Hospital on Lyon’s Avenue is the site of what appears to
be a hostage situation. Calls came in just after eight o’clock that
some of the children are infected with a disease that appears to be
spreading rapidly. We’re taking you to the scene where Diana Potrov
is reporting live. Diana, what are the updates?
”

“Thanks Carrie. As you can see
there is mass pandemonium going on around me. Police have closed
off the area from the public, which has caused many parents to
start rioting in the streets. I’ve spoken with people who have
children currently inside the hospital, but until police have the
situation contained, they can’t allow anyone inside. I’ve got Sgt.
Davies here to give us an official update on what’s going on inside
the hospital. Sgt. Davies, what can you tell us?”

“We don’t really have any answers
at this point. We sent in a few officers about an hour ago, and
they came back out un-armed and wounded. At this point, we can’t
authorize access into the facility until we’ve got the situation
under control.”

“What did the officers say is
going on inside?”

“They really weren’t sure what
happened once they got inside. One minute they were armed, the next
they were stripped of their guns and were fighting for their lives.
As a safety precaution, they’ve been taken to another hospital for
medical attention.”

“Can you see what’s going on
inside the hospital?”

“We can. We’ve accessed the
hospital’s security system, and are able to monitor what’s
happening in many areas on each floor.”

“Can you tell us what you’ve
seen?”

“I’m not authorized to give
specifics, but I can tell you that we believe that a group of
children who were brought in last night appear to be infected with
a disease that is unknown.”

“Thanks, Sgt. Davies. Stay tuned
for more updates on the situation as it unfolds. I’m Diana Potrov
reporting live for Channel Nine News.”

“Thanks Diana,”
Carrie said.
“We
just learned that a few nuns at St. Francis Private School have
been murdered, possibly a direct connection to the events that are
occurring tonight. Officials say that the initial reports came in
last night that there were disturbances at the school. Only after
responding to the complaints did they find out that no adults on
duty survived the attack. They also found the children in bad
condition, and those children were taken to the Children’s Hospital
that is currently under some sort of outbreak. They are currently
searching for a missing nun as well as missing children, and we’ll
continue to collect details from the authorities on the situation
at hand. Stay tuned for updates on this Breaking
News.”

“Oh my gods. What’s happening out there?”
Raine asked as she muted the TV. “Raid, can you pull up the
hospital’s security system so we can get some eyes in
there?”

He nodded and headed down to the deck where he
started up the computer and got to typing. The others had followed
him to the basement and were watching him as he entered command
after command into the computer. The television screens littering
the walls started to light up, showing black and white images of
the hospital halls.

“Someone turn the TV on in case there are more
updates,” he commanded.

Ethan used one of the screens and flipped it
to Channel Nine. Everyone watched the screen for a minute, and once
they realized it was just a commercial, they turned their attention
back to the security monitor shots.

“Is this a human affair?” Caleen
asked.

“Who’d have thought the human realm could be
so…violent,” Savannah tacked on.

Nitro’s eyes caught movement in one of the
screens. Stepping closer to the monitor, she focused on the little
boy. Though the screen was fuzzy gray tones, she’d recognize him
anywhere. “This is no human affair. This one’s on me.” She turned
on her heels and left the deck, following the hall at a quick
pace.

Raider was right behind her. “What do you
think you’re doing?”

“I’m going out there to clean up my
mess.”

“It’s not your mess.”

“Yes, it is,” she said as she shouldered her
way through the door that led to the foyer. She passed the stairs
and followed the hall toward Raider’s room.

“You’re not going out there.”

“Yes I am.” She reached the door and walked
inside.

“This is not a good idea,” he argued. “You
can’t keep your Instinct in check, Nitro.”

“Not topping my list of my concerns at the
moment,” she tossed over her shoulder. She’d just stripped off her
skirt and had pulled on a pair of her tight leather pants. Since
she’d never unpacked her clothes, all of her belongings were still
in her bag, and since Raider had brought her bag to his room, it
made finding new clothes a cinch. As she bent down to lace up her
heels, she looked over her shoulder, catching the tension that
rolled off Raider in waves. “I caused this. That little boy on the
screen that was feeding on a human kid?
I made that
. Me.
This entire situation is my fault, and it’s my job to clean it
up.”